Whatever Means Necessary
by pokemon fan 98
Summary: Daisy knew they were both a little different, after searching space for months on end. She hadn't realized just how much Jemma had changed, though.


Searching space was… not fun. And not encouraging. It was wearing down on all of them, and Daisy knew they wouldn't be able to keep going with this laser-focus they'd had for months. She took it upon herself to lead them – herself, Piper, Davis, and Jemma – in little games periodically. They'd become desperate enough for something to distract them from their search that they played one game, a game Davis had learned as a conversation starting technique, for about half an hour each day.

"If you could have any superpower, what would it be?" Piper asked.

"We answered that one three days ago," Davis told her.

"Oh, right. It's harder than I thought it would be to come up with new questions."

Daisy had to agree with her. She looked up from the constellation chart she'd been analyzing, realizing she'd been breaking her own unspoken rule and ignoring the game. "You could change it to which power would you hate to have."

"In that case, invisibility," Davis said.

"Stretching. Always creeped me out, reading those comics as a kid," Piper said.

They looked at Jemma, who seemed to be weighing her options carefully. "Super strength. It would be so boring to just pick things up and throw them. And people would forget I have a mind."

Daisy chuckled. Only Jemma. "I'd have to say multiplying." Ever since she'd seen the army of Daisy LMDs in the Playground, she'd had a slight fear of encountering a foe with her face. She pushed the thought aside and pulled a question from her mental list. She'd been compiling more complicated questions all day, in preparation for game time (Piper was right that it was hard to come up with good questions). "Alright: if you could get one thing back that was either lost or destroyed, what would it be?"

She had her answer ready, for when it came back to her. She missed her van, however stupid it seemed. Wandering space made her nostalgic for paved streets and gravity-bound vehicles. But her answer left her mind as she saw Davis and Piper look at Jemma. Her gaze moved to her friend as well, in sudden fear that she'd made an error of judgement in asking the question.

Any traces of humor faded from Jemma's expression. It was almost alarming how rapidly the distance seemed to enter her eyes as her gaze blurred and her mouth thinned. She didn't have to say anything. Daisy knew exactly what Jemma would want back. This closed-off expression had become less frequent, in the months they'd been searching for Fitz, but it was by no means uncommon. And no matter how many times she'd seen it, Daisy was never prepared for it. She'd struggled with losing Lincoln, but this…

"Jemma, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking -."

"We were playing a game, and you asked a question," Jemma said, her gaze focusing on Daisy again as quickly as it had gone distant. "There's nothing to apologize for."

Daisy furrowed her eyebrows. She'd expected Jemma's voice to be quiet, reflective. Instead it was almost bright… perfectly normal. That was what concerned her.

"My turn," Jemma said. "If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

"Uh – somewhere warm," Daisy managed. She thought of May and Coulson on that beach, what seemed like so long ago, and a part of her yearned for the company of her parental figures, but she wasn't completely focused on the question. She was still studying Jemma.

Piper and Davis answered, and then Davis went ahead with his own question. The rapid reversal of Jemma's stayed on Daisy's mind well beyond their game that day, though she didn't know what to make of it. She knew it couldn't be a good thing.

0-0

It wasn't long before she realized what the reversal meant. They located the planet Enoch had taken the hibernating Fitz to – and found the cryo-pod empty. Jemma froze, but otherwise didn't outwardly react.

"That's not…" Daisy trailed off, putting a hand to her head. "Enoch must have known we changed the future. He probably woke Fitz up." _And maybe brought him home,_ she added in her head. She didn't dare say it aloud. If they'd been travelling in opposite directions this whole time, and Fitz was heading back to Earth… no, he would have tried contacting them. Maybe they'd been forced to move.

"We've got company!" Davis yelled from the corridor, where he'd been keeping watch.

Daisy flexed her hands, walking toward the door. There was no way these aliens had arrived after them. Piper had attached a sensor in the room they'd docked the ship – the only docking point. These aliens had to have already been here, and with smaller means of transportation than a ship.

"They know where Fitz is," Jemma said, facing the door.

"Maybe," Daisy agreed. She didn't want to get Jemma's hopes up. At the same time, she would definitely be asking one of their guests if they knew anything about Fitz.

A humanoid alien appeared in the doorway. Daisy became slightly alarmed. How many were there, if they'd gotten past Piper and Davis so quickly? She could hear a commotion, so she imagined they were alright…

The alien had a blade in each hand, and started to lift them as he ran toward them. Daisy planned on quaking him against the wall, but Jemma beat her to it, drawing her weapon with a speed that would have made May proud had she seen it.

Jemma raised the gun in a sharp, precise movement and fired one shot. The bullet hit the alien in the chest, and he dropped lifeless to the floor. Daisy turned to see Jemma lowering the gun, her expression closed-off again. There was no hint of grief this time, though. If anything, she seemed unfeeling.

"You killed him."

"He was about to kill us." No inflection.

They'd had encounters with other aliens, in their search, and Jemma had shot at a few to assist Daisy, but she hadn't killed any before. She'd always wounded instead of killed. "I could have quaked him. We could have questioned him about where Enoch and Fitz are."

Jemma started walking out, readying her gun. "We only need one of them to question."

Daisy stood still for a second, watching Jemma move into the hallway. She could hear Piper and Davis fighting down one side of the corridor, so she knew Jemma was right that there were more aliens, but still… there had been no compassion in that act. There had been no _anything_ in that act. Daisy suddenly understood exactly what Jemma's reaction had been, when they played the game a few days before.

Daisy had asked what they would like to get back.

Jemma wasn't waiting to _get_ Fitz back. She was going to _take _him back. Whatever means necessary.

Daisy found herself hoping this ruthless side of Jemma calmed, when they did find Fitz. She knew how easy it was to get lost in a personal mission. She'd almost gone over the edge a few years before. It seemed like Jemma was nearing that point as well.

Daisy didn't want to lose her best friend as they searched for Jemma's.

* * *

_A/N: Season six starts on Friday! It's been teased that the Jemma we find will be different than the one we've come to know... I look forward to seeing Jemma and Daisy working together to find Fitz, and think Daisy would be a little worried by this change of character. It would be gradual, little things that made her notice... like a response to a game. Also, the title is a play on 'whatever it takes' from Avengers: Endgame. Let me know what you think!_


End file.
